Chapter 255: Danzō's True Face Exposed, Hashirama's Commentary
"What is going on?"
Hashirama Senju looked around in confusion. He had lost consciousness the moment Orochimaru implanted the talisman.
Now that his soul was being pulled by the Reaper Death Seal, it was hard for him to turn his head, so he hadn't seen Akiyama Makoto yet.
"It seems the battle is almost over... Monkey." The one who spoke next was Tobirama Senju.
He was very familiar with the Reaper Death Seal and the Impure World Reincarnation. He immediately realized that Orochimaru's jutsu had been broken. And the one who broke it... was a young man?
From his angle, he could barely see Makoto's figure, so a faint smile appeared on his lips.
"Who is he? Your new disciple? Not bad."
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the two recovered Hokage with joyful surprise. He wanted to say something, but when he opened his mouth, he spat out blood instead.
He had been stalemating Orochimaru here for a long time. If it weren't for Enma's help, he wouldn't have even been able to seal three people. Now, he was barely holding on.
He could only look at Danzō, hoping Danzō would help explain.
Because he also didn't know how Danzō and Makoto had gotten in, or how Makoto had gained such strength and skill.
But when he saw Danzō's appearance, the shock in his mind almost made him forget that he was in a life-and-death crisis.
Even Orochimaru stared straight at Danzō and couldn't help but laugh out loud. The tongue wrapped around the Kusanagi Sword even relaxed a little, giving Enma an advantage.
But Orochimaru didn't care. He had to speak. If he didn't speak, he couldn't vent the hatred in his heart.
Why had Orochimaru chosen to attack Konoha at this time?
The direct reason was naturally that Danzō had secretly colluded with him, promising to give him more forbidden jutsu materials and research subjects, and Orochimaru only had to assassinate Hiruzen once.
This was naturally not difficult for Orochimaru. After all, Hiruzen's strength had regressed too much, and Orochimaru had obtained the bodily tissues of the First, Second, and Fourth Hokage, so he could summon them with Edo Tensei.
Four against one, against an old and decrepit Hiruzen... could he lose?
Most importantly, Orochimaru could also bring in the Sand Village and have Rasa help cover for him. Orochimaru could hardly think of a reason why he would lose.
Of course, besides these direct reasons, sending this rotten old thing, Hiruzen, on his way and letting Konoha and even the ninja world start moving again was what Orochimaru had always wanted to do.
Orochimaru didn't hate Hiruzen.
Although Orochimaru had made great contributions to Konoha, and the human experiments had originally been authorized by Hiruzen and Danzō, ever since Orochimaru embarked on the path of seeking immortality, he was no longer on the same level as ordinary people.
The petty schemes of Konoha's high command seemed quite boring to Orochimaru. He wanted to see more fresh and interesting things, and Hiruzen's existence clearly blocked these things from existing.
If you still don't understand, you can compare Orochimaru to a human and the others to ants.
Orochimaru wants to watch ants fight, and then Hiruzen, the ant king, stops Orochimaru. So Orochimaru naturally wants to step on Hiruzen.
As for the last reason, it was because he discovered Sasuke during the Chūnin Exams.
Orochimaru regarded Sasuke as his next research target, so he became more proactive in executing the plan.
But he hadn't expected that the current Konoha Crush plot would turn into Makoto crushing all of them.
Orochimaru, plus the reanimated First and Second Hokage, had almost failed to defeat Hiruzen. How could this not make Orochimaru, who considered himself inhuman, angry and ashamed?
However, among the people present, Hiruzen, Makoto, and even Hashirama and Tobirama were not people Orochimaru could easily talk trash to. They had all earned Orochimaru's respect.
In Orochimaru's eyes, only Danzō was the remaining bug.
So Orochimaru couldn't help but mock, "Second Hokage, as far as I know, this person is not a ninja, but a civilian who couldn't even get into the Academy."
"He was oppressed by Danzō's subordinates, and Danzō even tried to capture him himself. But as Danzō's scandals were exposed, he lost the face to do so."
"As for what scandals he committed... look at his arm and eye. He destroyed the Uchiha clan, experimented with the First's cells, turned himself into this ghostly appearance, and even tried to assassinate you, Teacher. Am I wrong about any of this?"
As expected of someone who had spies in Konoha all year round, Orochimaru knew Konoha's intelligence like the back of his hand, even knowing Makoto's information clearly.
It was just that Orochimaru hadn't thought Makoto would be that powerful person before, but now everything was connected.
"First and Second Hokage, look. The Konoha you founded has become like this under Teacher's corrupt rule."
"Outstanding young people were almost persecuted by them, and he even treated you as enemies. No one in the entire Konoha respects them. Look at the eyes of these people. Not many of them seem to want to kill me."
Orochimaru turned his head to look. More and more Konoha ninja had rushed to the outside of the Four Violet Flames Formation, standing neatly outside the barrier.
They looked at everything inside the barrier in shock. Although they didn't want to believe Orochimaru's accusations, Danzō's ugly appearance was plain to see.
Most people's eyes only held shock and unease. More people held anger, panic, and mockery. Almost no one was concerned for Danzō's safety.
Of course, it was different for Hiruzen.
Many people looked at Hiruzen nervously, and the few Sealing Corps ninja familiar with the Reaper Death Seal had tears in their eyes.
Hashirama's gaze swept over everything outside the barrier. Although he usually laughed and even looked a little silly, at this moment, he looked at Hiruzen and Danzō with a dark gaze and said coldly, "Monkey, Danzō, I need an explanation."
Tobirama looked at Danzō's arm with interest. "I didn't expect you to have this talent, Danzō. You took out the entire Uchiha clan by yourself? If I had known, I would have made you Hokage. And the usage of these eyes and arm cells is not bad, just the method is a bit crude—"
"Tobirama!"
Hashirama's sharp shout cut Tobirama off.
Although he often seemed to mock his foolish older brother, deep down, Tobirama respected Hashirama immensely, one could say he followed his brother's lead in everything.
Now he could only shut up and wait for his brother's lecture—to be honest, he hadn't felt this way in many years!
"Back then, we reconciled with the Uchiha clan and built Konoha together. But our descendants killed their entire clan. Isn't this us breaking our faith?!"
"How can you be smug about such a thing?"
Tobirama remained silent. He also knew that Danzō had gone too far in this matter.
But I'm just happy...
Listening to the two Hokage arguing, Danzō's eyes slowly lit up, seeming to sense a chance for survival.
Originally, the life and death of Orochimaru and Hiruzen were decided in an instant, but now they had both relaxed the force of their pulling.
Orochimaru probably felt the situation was unfavorable to him and wanted to stall for time. After all, with every second of delay, Hiruzen's life drained away by a second.
Hiruzen didn't want to die in obscurity. Danzō's appearance brought him a huge sense of uncertainty and crisis. If he didn't figure out what had happened to Danzō, he wouldn't be able to rest in peace.
This meant that Danzō could try to get Hiruzen to release the First and Second Hokage, and then have them join him in dealing with Makoto, while Hiruzen took Orochimaru away.
In this way, wouldn't he become the biggest winner of this war?
So he said directly, "Teacher, I wonder if Hiruzen releases you now, without Orochimaru's control, can you move freely?"
"About that—"
Tobirama sensed his condition. "I think so. What do you want to do?"
"Of course, to execute the traitor and rebuild Konoha! Just let Hiruzen deal with Orochimaru, and you two can join me in executing that traitor!"
Danzō pointed at Makoto. Makoto smiled, appearing unsurprised.
When he removed the talismans from the First and Second Hokage's heads, he had anticipated that they would become heavyweight pieces to be turned against him.
But this was nothing to be afraid of. The precision of the current Edo Tensei was poor, and the First and Second only had ordinary Kage-level strength. Makoto could fight them head-on or retreat.
But this could allow Danzō to completely expose his true nature, and even drag Hiruzen into it.
This way, Hiruzen could also see clearly what kind of person Danzō was, and how many mistakes he had made over the years.
Outside the Four Violet Flames Formation, there was an uproar. The ninja who had witnessed Makoto's battle results began to want to speak up for him.
However, when the one-eyed Danzō swept his gaze over everyone with the Sharingan on his half-arm, most ninja closed their mouths in fear, giving Danzō the chance to continue.
"A year ago, he was an ordinary person who couldn't even use chakra. A year later, he has Kage-level strength."
"Tell me, who can master the Flying Thunder God, the Yin Seal, and Wood Style in one year? He can only be a spy sent by another village, or a traitor who stole Konoha's forbidden jutsu data!"
"Akiyama Makoto, in front of the First and Second Hokage, confess your identity."
Everyone looked at Makoto in unison. Makoto was too lazy to explain. He wasn't here to bicker with Danzō.
He was just waiting for Danzō's action. Actions spoke much louder than words.
But Hashirama spoke first, surprised. "He grew so much in one year, and even learned Wood Style? Child, show me your ability!"
"Since the First Hokage asks, I cannot refuse."
The Yin Seal on Makoto's body appeared again. He then used the Flying Thunder God to arrive at another side of the Four Violet Flames Formation, then clapped his hands. "Wood Style: Silent Strangle Jutsu!"
The next second, a mass of tree roots grew from beneath his feet. Then, branches suddenly stabbed towards Danzō, wrapping him up tightly. In an instant, Danzō was immobilized.
Danzō was shocked. He had just turned off Izanagi.
Otherwise, with only four Sharingan left, he wouldn't last a few minutes. And Makoto had attacked him without a word!
Fortunately, Makoto's Wood Style wasn't powerful enough. Danzō spat out chakra that turned into wind blades, cutting the branches. Then he ran somewhat wretchedly to Tobirama's side. It seemed only this teacher could protect him.
Tobirama looked at him with disdain, but on account of his arm full of Sharingan, he didn't mock him.
Just as Danzō felt safe and wanted to continue accusing Makoto, and Hiruzen was about to release the two Hokage, Hashirama resumed his signature laugh.
"Hahaha! As expected of our Senju... no, Konoha's genius! To grow to this extent in a year, it seems he has gathered the bloodlines of several clans."
"Look, Tobirama. I told you back then that there were benefits to letting the Senju clan disperse. You didn't believe me, but now you see the proof, right?"
"By the way, young man, don't be complacent. Although you have the strength to be Hokage, the ninja world is big, and you still need to continue growing."
"Get a few dozen times stronger, and you can probably walk the ninja world without worry!"
Hashirama's words left Danzō dumbfounded. In his mouth, Makoto's growth in strength was... normal?
Tobirama didn't express his opinion either. Although Makoto learning so many jutsu in a year was indeed genius, he had created the Flying Thunder God himself. What was so surprising about Makoto's achievement?
On the contrary, Danzō was making a fuss over nothing.
Was it strange to be trash yesterday and Kage-level tomorrow?
Wasn't the Uchiha clan full of such people? Now that Konoha had produced two geniuses who weren't Uchiha, shouldn't they just encourage them properly!
The vast majority of the Konoha ninja outside the Four Violet Flames Formation were also experiencing Hashirama's style for the first time.
This tone of not treating Kage-level powerhouses as human... as expected, only the God of Shinobi could say such things!
"Lord First—"
Danzō felt his scalp tingle. He struggled to say something, but suddenly a powerful aura washed over him. It was Hashirama, who had stopped smiling.
He looked at Danzō coldly. "This child looks good to me. Being able to learn my Wood Style means he has a kind heart. But you... why did you destroy the Uchiha clan? You haven't explained it clearly yet."
"Also, why did you experiment with my cells, and why did you attack this young man? Finally, how did you let Konoha become like this? I said it before, I need an explanation!"
Danzō looked to Tobirama for help. Tobirama sneered, helpless.
Although he appreciated what Danzō had done, now his big brother was looking for trouble with Danzō. As a loving younger brother, he naturally had to stand on his big brother's side.
Danzō's face was pale. He stepped back step by step, actually walking towards Hiruzen.
"Sarutobi, hurry up and tell the two Hokage that what happened back then had nothing to do with us! It was all the Uchiha clan's internal strife!"
Seeing that no one stopped him from approaching Hiruzen, a fierce light suddenly appeared in his eyes. His hand, transformed into a wind blade, slashed towards Hiruzen's neck.
❃❃❃
⤑ Show your support with Power Stones!
⤑ Unlock a Bonus Chapter every time we hit 200 Power Stones!
❃❃❃
♕ Get early access to 20+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
🔗 https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to open the link!)
💬 Enjoying the story? Drop a review!
Your support really helps the series grow—thank you